While Minnesota’s Tim Walz is putting on the act of being a counterpart in that oh-so-folksy pair of Harris and Walz, this “Papa Bear” image is belied by his thoroughgoing Russophobia and his willingness to support the NATO war to the last drop of Ukrainian blood. In the House of Representatives in 2008, he co-sponsored a bill “Remembering the 75th Anniversary of the Holodomor, 1931-32,” the Ukrainian part of the general famine in Russia, caused by the failure of Stalin’s agricultural policies. The Ukrainian diaspora was calling this a genocide against Ukrainians, although the deaths generally encompassed most of the Russian population in the south Russia, including Ukrainians. This was an early attempt by the Congress to pull Viktor Yushchenko’s Ukraine away from Russia and into the Western camp.
In 2015, Walz co-sponsored a bill to authorize assistance and sustenance to the Ukrainian military and national security forces. He remained supportive of the Ukrainian course upon leaving Congress to take up his post as the governor of Minnesota. In 2023, Walz met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying it was “an honor” to speak with the Ukrainian President and to promise Minnesota’s “unwavering support.” Speaking on the second anniversary of the Russian special military operation in February 2024, Walz declared that Minnesota supports Ukraine as it fights “to defend freedom and democracy.” That same month, Walz signed an agricultural deal between Minnesota and the north Ukrainian region of Chernihiv, saying “It’s a really important showing of friendship and a real important showing of ties.”
